Travel - Kyushu 2011

Brief Itinerary (8D7N):

• Fukuoka - Sasebo - Nagasaki - Kumamoto / Mount Aso & Beppu - Kagoshima - Fukuoka

Day 1 (Singapore - Fukuoka)

Day 2 (Fukuoka - Sasebo):

• Reached Huis Ten Bosch, a Dutch theme park. 
• Stayed overnight at Hui Ten Bosch Hotel Europe. 

Panaroma view of the Huis Ten Bosch

Day 3 (Sasebo - Nagasaki):

• Visited Glover Garden Nagasaki, a historic garden built 100 years ago. 
• Followed by the Nagasaki Chinatown. 
• The day ended with a visit to the Peace Garden, which commemorates the atomic explosion on 9 August 1945 and the Atomic Bomb Museum. 

One may be able to gauge how big the atomic bomb was. 

Day 4 (Nagasaki - Kumamoto / Mount Aso):

• Boarded the super fast car-ferry, Ocean Arrow from Shimbara to Kumamoto. 
• Visited the Kumamoto Castle and the city's 300 year-old Suizenji Park, which offers one of the best examples of Japanese landscaped gardens. 
• Ascended Mount Aso in a cable car to witness the distinctive huge crater basin as well as the unique Komezuka, a dormant volcano hill famous for the world's largest volcano crater. 

 Backview of the ferry as we left Shimbara. 

 The seagulls were waiting to be fed with Calbee crackers. 

 Majestic view of the Kumamoto Castle. 

Enchanting landscape viewed at the Suizenji Park. 

The picture on the right are temporary shelter sites used by people during volcano eruptions. 

During our visit, the safety level had risen up to the yellow signal which signified high gas concentration of 2ppm. We were evacuated to the bottom of the hill soon after that. 

Day 5 (Kumamoto / Beppu):

• Went to the Takachiho Gorge, a V-shaped gorge, created by the Gokase-gawa River, which eroded the Aso lava and the Kokonoe Yume Otsurihashi, the longest footpath suspension bridge (390m long / 173m high) in Japan. 
• Next stop was the bright-red Boiling Blood Pond, Chi-no-lke Jigoku. 

 Exquisite japanese food served during dinner time. 

 

This gigantic crab was from Hokkaido (we bought it from the tour guide who had been promoting since Day 1 of the tour). Nevertheless, the meat was succulent. 

Day 6 (Beppu - Kagoshima):

• Spent the whole day in the bus *sigh*.
• However, managed to experience sand-bathing at Ibusuki. Did not take any photographs of the sand-bath as cameras were not allowed in the premise. 

Day 7 (Kagoshima - Fukuoka):

• Boarded bullet train to Fukuoka. 
• Shopped at Tosu Premium factory outlet mall, Tenjin underground shopping and Canal City Hakata. 

The scallop tasted divine and heavenly, when eaten raw and cooked. 

The wagyu beef strips were said to be from cows which were fed with beer and given massage. 

I did not taste the beef but was told that it was luscious. 

Day 8 (back to Singapore)